Short Interest in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Rises By 6.5%

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 259,100 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 243,400 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 79,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Chemed Price Performance

CHE traded down $3.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $551.41. 35,014 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,767. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.46. Chemed has a 12 month low of $523.33 and a 12 month high of $654.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $580.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.38.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.76 by ($0.12). Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $606.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.43 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chemed news, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.35, for a total transaction of $975,296.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,478,159.15. This represents a 21.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George J. Walsh III sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.95, for a total value of $115,590.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,446 shares in the company, valued at $1,991,615.70. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,313 shares of company stock worth $2,527,495. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chemed

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in Chemed by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Chemed by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,820,000 after purchasing an additional 15,791 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of Chemed by 35.4% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 4,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Chemed by 2.6% in the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 6,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,870,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Chemed by 3.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation provides hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers primarily in the United States. The company operates in VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. It offers plumbing, drain cleaning, excavation, water restoration, and other related services to residential and commercial customers through company-owned branches, independent contractors, and franchisees.